It’s rare that I encounter skate that is both cooked well, and nicely sauced. Flemish chef Kobe Desramaults served a small fist of skate that was as soft as soufflé, glazed in a tart, briny sauce made of miso.

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27.AJI “ESCABECHE”
Verjus, grape, and celery.
(The Restaurant at Meadowood; St. Helena, California)

This dish, in a slightly different form, was one of the ten best dishes I had in 2013. It returns this year, no less a pleaser. The fish, which is oily and rich, with a wonderfully relaxed texture, and balanced against a finely calibrated acidity, is the highlight of an otherwise beautiful carousel of colors and flavors.

This was very simple: a tongue of sea urchin wrapped in a shiso leaf, battered whole, and deep-fried. Creamy, fragrant, crisp; wonderful.

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29.TAJARINFirst of the season white truffles.(Quince; San Francisco, California)

In a fit of generosity, Michael Tusk came to our table and presented us with three pastas, all of which he blanketed with a coat of first of the season white truffles. The pastas at Quince are virtually nonpareil, and this buttery twirl of tajarin was an unforgettable example of that.

Very few restaurants have the wherewithal to pull of a proper Peking duck in two services; it’s rarely attempted, and even more rarely accomplished. The Michelin-starred Yan Toh Heen at the Hotel Inter-Continental in Tsim Sha Tsui did so effortlessly, first carving the skin off the duck, table-side, and presenting the golden, glistening rind with paper-thin wrappers and a buffet of dressings (including the traditional plum sauce and julienne of scallion), and then offering an array of options for the second service. We chose to have the meat carved from the bird and stir-fried with vermicelli, mung bean sprouts, and vegetables. (Disclaimer: the hotel and restaurant were hosting us for a weeklong tour of Hong Kong.)

I love the heartiness and honesty of Swedish food, which, at its best has a simple, rib-sticking appeal that helps you weather the harsh winters there. From my cozy perch at this historic “back pocket” café of the Swedish state opera house, came this wonderful mound of creamy crayfish served with some buttered toast, a drizzle of olive oil, and a bright spritz of lemon. I highly recommend it.

34.DUMPLINGSButton mushrooms and Pecorino Sardo.
(estela; New York, New York)

Like quite a few other entries on this year’s list of my favorite dishes, I had the pleasure of having this dish twice in 2014, once at chef Ignacio Mattos‘s restaurant Estela in New York City, and again when he cooked at this year’s Twelve Days of Christmas at the Restaurant at Meadowood. Of it, I wrote, “…those moist, pillowy dumplings, made with ricotta and punchy with cheesy umami (there was a healthy amount of Pecorino Sardo added) – beloved by almost all who have eaten at Estela – were easily the crowd favorite. The dumplings were coated in a buttery sauce and blanketed with a shingled layer of thinly sliced button mushrooms. The sharpness of the cheese and the butteriness of the sauce paired extraordinarily well with the 2011 Domaine William Lafeve Chablis poured with it, perhaps my favorite wine pairing of the entire dinner series.”

This is the sort of lusty, flavorful, Mediterranean fare that I’ve come to love about casa mono. Seized by the ramp frenzy of New York in May, chef Anthony Sasso and his crew added wilted ramps to this otherwise summary love affair between tomatoes and anchovies.

Photos: Shaving white truffles over tajarin at Quince in San Francisco, California; a grilled porcini with wagyu at Aubergine in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California; the first service of the Peking duck at Yan Toh Heen at the Hotel Intercontinental in Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon, Hong Kong.